


Sweet as Love

by Ottermouse



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Artist!Keith, Fluff, M/M, Model!Shiro, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-07-27 09:12:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7612318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ottermouse/pseuds/Ottermouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith is an art student trying to survive his first year of university. The really hot model for his drawing class isn't making things any easier.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pretty as a Picture

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt given to me by and also beta'd by [lordzuuko](http://archiveofourown.org/users/lordzuuko)

It was his first day of figure drawing class, his first year of college, and Keith was _buzzing_.

He had his new, fancy bag full of new fancy supplies slung over his shoulder. He’d been able to find the right building and classroom with no problem. He even arrived early!

Today was going _great._

After the three hour long class, he’d have enough time to eat lunch, go back to his dorm, hope his roommate Lance wasn’t there, and dink around on the internet before his next class.

The professor wasn’t there yet, so he sat down by one of the easels in front of the windows. Hopefully that’ll give him some extra light to work with. He set up his new drawing pad on the easel and began to organize his supplies.

Over the next fifteen minutes, several other students trickled in, and the noise in the room became louder. Keith wasn’t too interested in socializing with his new classmates and occupied himself with counting the number of pencils, charcoal, and other tools he had. He didn’t want to be missing anything on the first day.

The professor walked in at exactly ten o’clock.

He had bright orange hair piled on top of his head as well as a very bushy mustache. His clothes were… one could say he fitted the persona of an artist fairly accurately.

Professor Coran, as he introduced himself, spent the first half hour of class going through the syllabus. Keith made sure to highlight all the important dates and scribble down notes in the margins of his paper.

“Now, I’m sure you all want to get started right away, but first, let me introduce the model who you all will be working with. Shiro!” Coran gestured to a man who was sitting by an easel next to him. He stood up and waved to the class, smiling.

Holy hell was he _hot_. Keith felt like he did not deserve to be in the presence of such a Greek god.

“Shiro is a student just like all of you, so if you see him outside of class on campus, please be polite and _respectful,_ and refrain from making unnecessary, inappropriate comments about his work in public.” Coran scanned the room, making meaningful eye contact with everyone. “He has proven to be a wonderful model, and I would rather like to have him around for as long as possible.”

“You flatter me, Professor,” Shiro joked.

“I pay you. Now get naked.” Coran spoke with casual good humor as he pointed to a dressing room in the corner of the room. The whole class burst out laughing.

“Yes, sir!” Shiro saluted before disappearing behind the black curtain.

“Alright, we’re going to be doing some quick exercises just to give you an idea what you’ll be doing in this class. We’ll start off with fifteen-minute poses, then move to ten and five-minute ones.”

Keith looked down at his supplies, trying to decide which to use first. He heard Shiro walk back in and settle in the center of the room.

“Pose one! You have fifteen minutes!”

Everyone shuffled, picking up utensils and scrambling to start sketching. Soon, the only sound that could be heard was the scritch-scratch of lead or charcoal tips on paper.

That and Keith’s heartbeat.

He was sure of it. His heart was pounding out of his chest and he could feel the beats up in his throat. Shiro was a very, very attractive male and Keith was a very, _very_ gay boy.

He had a profile view of the model, and noticed that his right arm appeared to be… prosthetic? It gleamed slightly in the light, maybe metal? That was also definitely some scar tissue between the arm and his shoulder.

_Bucky Barnes._

He just met a real-life Bucky Barnes and he, on the other hand, was just some expendable Hydra gruntman that no one would look twice at.

“Pose two!”

_Shit._ Class cost an insane amount of money, he should be paying more attention. To drawing, not to the ridiculously handsome person in front of him. He glanced up for the new pose. Oh _fuck_. Now he had a picture perfect view of his ass.

_Okay, okay, forget the butt, you’re here to draw, try to act professional._ Keith tried his best to focus, lightly drawing out the general shape of Shiro’s body, but still found himself spacing out.

“Pose three! You have ten minutes now!”

Keith’s eye grew wide and he found himself beginning to panic. _That’s fine. That’s fine. You can pick it up with this next one, it is the first class after all. Oh god it’s only the first class._ He peaked over his easel for the pose and—

_Dick._

It wasn’t the first one Keith had ever seen, and it wasn’t like Shiro was purposefully showing it off, but with the pose and the angle, it was _right_ in his direct line of sight.

He felt heat rush up his cheeks and he tore his eyes away, needing to look anywhere but _there_. He looked up. Into Shiro’s eyes.

_Mission abort! Mission abort!_ Keith could hear emergency sirens blasting in his mind. Forget his cheeks, his entire face had to be firetruck red at this point. His whole body was shaking. He felt the charcoal slip out of his grasp and his eyes roll to the back of his head.

Ker- _THUNK!_

_Oww._

“Oh my god, are you okay? Hey, HEY!”

A voice brought him back to consciousness. He blinked slowly, as the face of Shiro-the-sexy-model came into focus. He was still naked. Keith wondered what he had done that made the world hate him so.

“Hey, there you are,” said the softest, most heavenly voice ever.

It was too much, Keith fainted again.

“Give him space, give him space!” The professor’s voice rang out. He knelt next to the fallen boy. “Keith, was it?”

He nodded.

“Do you need to go to the Heath Center?” He was grasping a cellphone in his hand.

“Uhh, no, I’m fine. Maybe a little dehydrated. Today’s been pretty… exciting.” The words felt thick and heavy in his mouth.

A few giggles could be heard throughout the room, but Keith was still too out of it to care.

“Well, at least go outside and get some water, okay? There’s a fountain right by the bathrooms. Class is going to finish early today, anyway, so don’t worry about missing anything.”

“Yes, Professor.” He took the hand Coran extended towards him and was pulled to his feet. He felt his head throb. “I’ll, uh, be back.”

He found the water fountain and took a nice, long drink. Then he went into the bathroom to splash some water on his face as well as smack some sense into himself.

_Come on, Keith!_ He stared deep into his reflection. _Don’t make it weird. You’re an art student for goodness sake, you gotta get used to it. You heard Coran, he’s gonna be our main model for the semester._

After he felt like he’d properly intimidated himself enough, he walked back to the classroom. A very empty classroom. He let out a loud gasp, nearly fainting again. Then, quietly:

“Fuck my life.”

“There are better things to fuck than life, you know.” Keith heard a voice and whipped around, tensing and immediately falling into a fighting stance.

“Woah!” Shiro stood (clothed thank goodness) with both hands up in surrender. “It’s just me. Here, a peace offering.” He held out Keith’s bag.

The artist relaxed and took it, hands briefly brushing against the sexy-model-man’s. “Are you the only one here?”

“Mmhmm,” Shiro confirmed. “Class ended and everyone left, but I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Keith opened his bag and dug through the contents, hiding his face. “I’m fine.”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t touch anything. Professor Coran packed it up for you.”

Keith stopped sifting. “Oh, okay.” He didn’t know where to look. If he met Shiro’s gaze, that glorious face of his might cause him to pass out once more, and he’d embarrassed himself enough already.

“So… you’re a freshman, right?”

Keith toed the floor. “Yeah,” he mumbled.

“And this was your first class of the year?”

The art student wanted to bury himself inside his clothing, instead he shoved his hands deep inside his pockets and hunched his shoulders. “Yeah.”

“Damn. How about to make up for the crappy start of your day, I buy you a coffee? I swear, college isn’t _all_ bad.”

“Right now?”

“If you have time?” There was a hint of hope in his voice that Keith prayed he wasn’t imagining.

He shifted his weight on his feet. “I’m not really a coffee person, though…”

“Oh, then what do you like?”

“Hot chocolate?” He spoke quietly, bashful.

A wide smile spread across Shiro’s face, and one could almost see him glowing. “I know a place that makes the _best_ hot chocolate. It’s right off campus, you have to try it at least once while you’re here.”

“I yeah. Yeah, that sounds great, let’s go!” Keith readjusted his bag over his shoulder and followed the model out, turning off the room lights before closing the door firmly shut behind him.


	2. Shy as a Mouse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to lordzuuko for beta'ing this~  
> There is a slight pov change near the end of this chapter. I put extra space between paragraphs to make it easier to tell.

Shiro was right.

The hot chocolate was glorious. It came with a mountain of whipped cream, milk and white chocolate shavings sprinkled on top as well as two biscuits and chocolate sticks peaking out the side of the large mug. On top of all that there was chocolate and caramel syrup drizzled all over it. Keith didn’t know where to start.

“This is crazy,” he said, mouth gaping.

“Eat it before it melts,” Shiro gently kicked Keith’s leg with a grin. He had ordered a regular coffee and blew on the liquid to cool it down.

They were by the large window of the small cafe, sitting side by side on tall chairs as they chatted. The younger male took his spoon ( _that’s_ why Shiro gave him one) and got as much of everything as he could on it before digging in.

“Mmmm,” he couldn’t help but groan in satisfaction. It was so rich and sweet and _exactly_ was he needed. “This is the best thing I’ve ever consumed in my entire life.”

Shiro laughed. “I told you so!” Watching his junior consume the drink, he grimaced slightly, pulling out several napkins out from the dispenser in front of them and holding them towards Keith.

“Your face is a mess.”

“ _Your_ face is a mess,” Keith replied before foregoing the spoon completely and pressed the mug directly to his lips, gulping down the warm drink. When he set the cup back down, whipped cream could be seen covering his cheeks and chin.

Shiro began laughing even harder. “Oh my god, you’re so cute.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing, clean yourself up, you animal.” He stuck the napkins onto Keith’s face, who took them and cleaned himself off. “So, you’re majoring in art?”

“Yeah, though my parents want me to learn something more ‘useful’, so I might double major in economics or accounting or something.” Keith wiped the last of the whipped cream off the side of his mouth.

“Huh,” Shiro leaned his head on his fist. “Isn’t there a fancy art school nearby? Why aren’t you going there?”

The other sighed. “Cause it’s expensive as fuck. And they offered me more scholarships here. Besides, I’m pretty sure my parents would have a heart attack if I actually went.” He stirred the remainder of the hot chocolate in his mug.

“Your parents are really strict?”

“Well, I mean, they’re not my real parents, they just adopted me when I was fourteen,” Keith took a bite out of one of the biscuits. “They run a business and by the time they wanted to have kids they couldn’t, so they got me instead. Didn’t want to have to deal with all that baby stuff I guess. Anywho, they want me to take over once they retire, but I’d rather not have to manage a store for the rest of my life.” He stared out the window at the people walking past.

“Oh. That sucks. My dad’s a mechanical engineer, so I spent a lot of time as a kid tinkering with stuff, but he was a little disappointed that I ended up more into planes than robots.”

“Wait, so did your dad design your... umm,” Keith pointed at the metallic arm.

Shiro raised it, flexing the fingers. “Yeah, he did. I was in an accident in high school and a lot of the skin on my arm kinda… melted off.”

Keith flinched. “Ow.”

“Since I’m right handed that was a problem, but my dad had this friend who’d designed a new kind of artificial replacement skin. So I let them use it on me and obviously, it worked.”

“Is it… cold?”

“Huh? Oh, no, it feels just like regular flesh, but they hadn’t found a way to change the color of the material they were working with at that point. Here, you can touch it if you want.” Shiro held his arm out in front of Keith.

He gingerly reached out and poked the arm. It was warm.

“Woah.” He ran his hand along it up to the fingers. It pinched and pulled how skin typically would. “This is so weird.”

“Yeah, that’s what most people say.”

He held the hand up close to his face and examined it. “It’s like you have a robot arm but also don’t?”

“Ha! My dad suggested that I get tattoos to make it look like it has hinges or something, but I don’t know if that’s something I can do. It might cause complications.”

“I like tattoos,” Keith blurted out before thinking.

“Oh?”

“I mean, that’s not, umm…” Keith felt his face heat up slightly and quickly changed the subject. “So, what year are you in?” It was an awkward transition, but thankfully the other humored him.

“I’m a senior. If all goes well, I’ll be graduating this year,” Shiro replied. “My major is engineering with a focus on aviation. I want to be a pilot in the air force so I’m in ROTC, too.”

_So_ that’s _why his body is so great,_ Keith thought, quickly looking him up and down. “It really shows. But damn, science major, ROTC and a part-time job? You must be crazy busy all the time.”

“I am,” Shiro confirmed, nodding. “But that’s why I like modeling for the art classes so much, I don’t have to analyze or calculate anything. I can just let myself get into this zone and it’s the one time I can feel myself completely relax. It’s like meditation for me. I’m not trying to show off or get a boyfriend out of it, I just really enjoy it.” As he was talking, Keith could see Shiro’s posture become more loose and his eyes looking deep into the cup in his hands.

“Wait, did you say _boyfriend_?”

Shiro’s expression grew sheepish at the realization of his slip. “Ah, yeah, I’m gay, so if that makes you uncomfortable—”

“NO!” Keith yelled, jumping out of his chair. A few people in the cafe turned and stared at him, so he quickly sat back down and spoke in a softer voice. “I mean, I like guys, too, so I don’t mind.” He couldn’t help the butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

_He had a chance!_

“Really?” Shiro looked him over. “You didn’t seem like it.”

“Neither did you, Mr. ROTC.”

Shiro spit coffee into his cup, unable to hold back laughter. It made Keith want to try making him smile as much as possible.

“Oh my _god_ , you’re right! I must be scaring all the boys away!”

“You haven’t scared me.”

Shiro raised an eyebrow. “You fainted the first time I made eye contact with you.”

Keith blushed. “That wasn’t— it was—!” he stopped before he could say anything he’d regret. “But we’re here now, aren’t we? That should count for something.”

Shiro’s hand twitched around his cup. “It sure does.”

* * *

Keith was tossing clothes and school supplies all over his room.

“Where _is_ the stupid thing?” he asked himself once more in frustration.

He heard the dorm room’s door unlock and open.

“Hey, Lance, have you seen my box of acrylic paints? I need them for my midterm project.”

“No, sorry. You can borrow mine if you want.” Lance was also an art student, and while they took many classes together, his interest was more in the digital realm of things. “Speaking of, you’re in Drawing 203, right?”

“Yeah,” Keith replied, holding a pile of laundry over his head, eyes scanning the floor.

“Can I see your notes? The _one_ day I miss class was apparently the day we learned a bunch of stuff that we gotta use for the midterm.”

“Sure, notebook’s on my desk.” Keith was now pulling the blankets off his bed.

“Thanks, dude.” Lance dropped his backpack on the floor, taking a piece of paper and pen out of it. He picked up his roommate’s sketchbook and began flipping through it.

_Ugh, I really need to start actually using a laundry basket_ . Keith thought, picking up random socks and underwear from the ground and tossing them into a plastic bag. _Where on earth could those damn paints be? There’s only so many places here they could hide. Wait— is this Keith’s?_ He poked at a pair of Transformers boxers with his toe.

“Hey, who’s this guy?” Keith looked up. Lance was holding his sketchbook open to a page of nude figures.

“That’s the model for my class,” he answered.

Lance then flipped to a page with a doodle he did of Shiro while they had been doing homework in the library together.

“This is the same guy, yeah?”

Keith nodded. “Why?”

“He’s pretty hot, you have a crush on him?” Lance began to flip through the pages. “Cause you’ve drawn a _lot_ of him and I mean like, not just in a classroom setting.”

Keith dropped the plastic bag and threw himself at his roommate. “ _NO!_ ”

“Really? Then what’s this? And this? And— oh ho ho, what is _this_?”

Keith didn’t know which work he was talking about, but with all the things he’d drawn of Shiro, there were definitely some self-gratuitous ones he did _not_ need his roommate to see.

“Give it back, you dick!” He reached out to grab the book but Lance jumped up onto his bed and held it above his head, way out of Keith’s reach.

 

“I can see why you like him, though. He’s got a killer body. Unless that’s just the way you draw him.” Lance had never been shy about his bisexuality and wasn’t about to stop now. Besides, there were a _lot_ of sketches of this guy. He saw in the backgrounds of some the drawings different school buildings, courtyards, what looked like the cafeteria, and more.

_Dang, they must hang out a lot._ He began turning pages as fast as he could to catch glimpses of all of Keith’s drawings, when he saw something slip out from between the pages.

“Stop it!”

Lance leaned down to snatch up whatever had fallen, handing the sketchbook back with the other hand in order to distract his roommate.

It was a polaroid.

_This guy has a polaroid? What a nerd._ It was taken selfie style, the model guy had his arm around Keith’s shoulder and was smiling wide enough to show his teeth. Keith was pressed up against his side, a few inches shorter than the other, and while his smile was close-lipped and shy, it was genuine. On the bottom, someone had written a date (from a few weeks ago), and a note:

[You’re the best! -Shiro]

_So his name’s Shiro…_

Lance looked down at Keith, who was no longer trying to stop him, just keeping his eyes to the floor, sketchbook held loosely in one hand.

Lance bounced on his mattress once and used the momentum to fold his legs under him so when he landed he was sitting with legs crossed. “You really like him, don’t you?” he asked, no longer teasing.

“Yeah,” was Keith’s nearly inaudible reply.

Lance patted the space next to him. “Tell me about it, little brother.”

Keith wasn’t in the mood to remind his roommate that _he_ was the older one, so he just rolled his eyes. He sat on the edge of the bed, feet planted on the floor. “What do you want to know?”

“Most important thing: does he like boys?”

Keith crossed his arms and hunched his shoulders to his ears. “Yes.”

Lance punched the other’s arm within a tolerable pain level. “Then what are you doing? Ask him out!”

“But I— he’s, he’s so perfect. And he’s graduating this year, so we wouldn’t even be able to be together for long. If he even likes me,” he added, not wanting to sound too hopeful.

“That’s _more_ of a reason to ask him sooner than later!” Lance stared at the photo in his hands. “Have you shown him any of your drawings of him?”

Keith clutched his sketchbook close to his chest. “Of course not! I don’t want him to think I’m a creep!”

Lance placed the polaroid on his roommate’s lap. “Actually, I think he’d like them. A lot. You should show him.”

 

Keith picked up the photo with both hands, caressing the corner where Shiro’s face was. “Maybe,” he murmured. The thought honestly made him sick to his stomach.

Lance roughly grabbed Keith and pulled him in for a side bro-hug. “There’s my little Keithy-weithy!” He gave his roommate a hard noogie to the head.

“Oww! Stop, that hurts!” Keith shoved Lance away as the other laughed wildly. “You’re _such_ an ass.”

The other boy suddenly grew silent and jumped down from his bed. He dove under Keith’s desk, head popping back out a few seconds later, hair spotted with dust bunnies.

“I may be an ass,” he held up a box in his hand. “But I’m an ass that just found your paints.”


	3. Deep as the Sea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to my beta lordzuuko for being a trooper c:

“I’m done!” Keith declared as he clicked the ‘submit’ button on his laptop screen and fell back on the floor. “My first college finals are over!”

“Don’t rub it in!” Shiro was still furiously typing. “Ugh, I have to try to bullshit another five hundred words out for this damn essay. I’m a science major, why do I still have to take English courses?” he complained.

The two were in the living room of Shiro’s apartment. They’d spent the majority of the day working on their finals and it had grown dark outside. The senior sat cross-legged on the sofa, laptop warming his thighs, thick rimmed glasses adorning his face as he hurried to finish his last paper. 

“It’s only ’cause you put off the requirement until your senior year,” Keith pointed out, stretching his arms above his head, yawning, then tucking them under his head.

“Oh shut up, fresh meat.”

Keith lifted up a leg and kicked Shiro’s knee before pushing himself off the ground. “I’m gonna get some water, you want anything?”

Shiro pushed his glasses up his nose, not taking his eyes off the computer screen. “Yeah, there’s a box of fruit snacks on the counter if you could grab me one.”

“‘Kay.” Keith stood up and shuffled to the kitchen that was only a few feet away. He took one of Shiro’s cups from the cabinet (the one that said “#1 Space Dad” he’d claimed was a joke gift from his friends) and filled it with water from the filter. As he began scanning the counter for the fruit snacks, he heard a door open from down the hall and one of Shiro’s roommates, Allura, appeared. She was in a pretty blue dress and had her white hair tied up in an intricate bun.

“I’m gonna be out late tonight,” she spoke as she slipped on a pair of flats.

“Going on a hot date?” Shiro asked from the couch.

“You wish.” She pulled out her keys and opened the front door. “You two have fun.” She winked at Keith and disappeared behind the door before he could decipher what the gesture meant. 

He grabbed the packet of snacks that was next to the toaster and threw them into Shiro’s lap when he was close enough.

“There you go, you child.” He plopped down on the couch next to the working student. 

“My hands are busy, feed me,” Shiro turned his head towards Keith while keeping his eyes on the screen and opening his mouth.

“God, you really  _ are _ a child,” Keith scoffed and took the packet (being careful to not bring his fingers anywhere near the other boy’s crotch) and ripped it open. “Here comes the airplane~” he teased in a sing-song voice, placing the gummy on Shiro’s tongue.

They spent the next while like that. Keith playing on his phone until Shiro would elbow him for another fruit snack.

“This is the last one,” Keith informed, holding out the strawberry shaped treat between his thumb and index finger.

“One sec,” Shiro’s eyebrows furrowed momentarily before firmly pressing down on the track pad and moving his laptop onto the coffee table in front of them. He then turned to Keith and leaned forward, taking the gummy into his mouth. His lips brushed over the tips of Keith’s fingers, causing the younger boy to tense and blush slightly. 

Shiro leaned back, body sinking into the cushions. “I am done!” He looked over at Keith.

“Hey, you okay?”

Keith snapped out of his daze. “Yeah, uh, just a little tired.” He quickly made up an excuse for his behavior.

Shiro uncrossed his legs and placed one of the couch’s pillows on his lap before patting it.

Keith cocked his head, confused. “Huh?”

Shiro let out an impatient breath, taking the other by the shoulders and pulling him down until his head was resting on the pillow in his lap. His body took up the rest of the space on the couch, legs hanging off the arm rest. 

“Take a nap,” Shiro said, and he began to gently run his fingers through Keith’s hair. “You deserve it.”

Keith was screaming internally. Did he like the idea of this? Yes. Was it something he imagined would actually happen? No. Was he going to take advantage of the situation? As much as he possibly could, yes. 

He turned his body to the side so that he faced Shiro’s stomach. Before the rational part of his brain could interfere, he burrowed his head into Shiro’s body. One of his hands came up and clutched the hem of his shirt. He took in a deep breath, trying not to shudder (how did Shiro smell so  _ good _ ?) and closed his eyes.

Fingers continued to brush his hair, sometimes pausing to scratch at his scalp. It was heavenly. Keith wondered if he really did deserve this.

————

Keith opened his eyes with a start.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” he looked up at where the voice came from. Shiro was leaning over him, no longer on the sofa, and held fabric in his hands. Keith looked down and saw a blanket with a galaxy pattern on it covering his body. “It’s pretty late.”

“Uhh… what time is it?” Keith asked, voice scratchy from the nap.

Shiro reached for his phone on the coffee table and clicked a button so the screen lit up. “It’s two forty-one.”

“In the morning?”

“In the morning.”

Keith pushed his bangs out of his face. “Fuck.” He pulled his upper body out from under the blanket and felt around the table for his phone. He didn’t have any messages or missed calls, but the clock told him that Shiro was telling the truth.

“I need to go home.” Keith dug the heel of his hands into his eyes, rubbing them.

“You know, I wouldn’t mind if you stay the night. You can take my bed, I can… umm…”

The words rang over and over throughout Keith’s mind.  _ Stay the night. Here. Shiro’s apartment. Shiro's  _ bed _. No. There’s no way he means it like that. I’m on the couch. He’d probably take the couch. Not that I wouldn’t mind sleeping with him. No, not like that! Okay, maybe a little like that, but is that what I  _ want _ him to mean? He’s not that kind of person, there’s no way he’d— fuck. What if I’m looking at this all wrong and he thinks  _ I’m _ some sort of pervert? But if that isn’t it, and he  _ does _ come onto me…  _ He found himself starting to shake.

“I just want to go home.”

Shiro nodded and grabbed his keys that were hanging by the door. “Alright, I’ll drive you back.”

“ _ No! _ I’m— I’ll be okay.” Keith got up and began haphazardly throwing his things into his backpack.

“You’re going to  _ walk _ back to the dorms, are you nuts?!” Shiro grabbed the younger boy’s arm roughly. “It’s pitch black outside, you could get hurt.”

“I can take a taxi…” Keith murmured.

“Sure. Like there are any out there right now. I’m not going to let you be a stubborn idiot.” Shiro let his arm go but snatched the other boy’s backpack instead. “I’m driving you,” he said with finality. 

The drive to Keith’s dorm was a short one, but it would have been much longer if he had walked. All he could see out the passenger side window was darkness, only illuminated by the car’s headlights. Dark enough that he had to turn his gaze away before his imagination began to run too wild. He glanced nervously over to Shiro before staring down at his own legs.

_ Maybe I should have stayed _ . He began picking at a hole in his jeans.  _ He’s too good of a guy to have been asking for sex. Now I’ve just made things awkward. What could I say to make this better? ‘Sorry, I actually want to stay over, can we head back?’ ‘I have a really big crush on you so when you said ‘sleep’ my brain kinda went into overdrive?’ ‘I maybe sorta really want to climb into your lap and make out in the car I don’t care who sees us?’ _

The car stopped. Shiro leaned back in his seat.

_ Hurry, hurry, say something! _

“I’m sorry.”  _ Oh, that’s great. _

“What for?” 

“Just, you know, if I had stayed you wouldn’t have had to do this.” Keith fumbled with the seatbelt before grabbing his bag and pulling it over his shoulders. He felt a warm hand place itself on his thigh. Light reflected off the skin. 

“You don’t need to apologize for that. I was the one who offered to bring you home. Anyway, it’s more important to me that you’re safe and feel comfortable. I wouldn’t force you to stay if you didn’t want to.”

_ If only you knew. _

“Keith, when are you going back home for winter break?” 

“In two days.”

“Ah.” Shiro took his palm off of Keith and ran his fingers through his short hair. “I guess I’ll see you next term, then.”

“Yeah.” Keith gave him a shaky smile, hand wrapped around the door handle and climbed out of the car. He closed the door and walked up to the entrance of his dorm. Shiro’s car stayed by the curb until he’d scanned his ID card on the electronic lock and stepped inside.

Keith slowly made his way to his room, legs feeling like lead, mind beginning to flood him with alternative choices and what if’s. He thrust his key into the room’s door handle and promptly tripped over something as he walked in.

He was face down on the carpet, unable to move. The lights were still off and he couldn’t see anything. 

“Mmm… Keith?” Bedsprings squeaked and blankets rustled. Clothed feet padded across the floor and a comforting presence knelt besides the boy. “Hey, are you okay?”

Keith rolled himself onto his back. As he stared up into the black void of the ceiling, he could feel tears begin to prick the corner of his eyes.

“I think I fucked up.”


	4. Brave as a Lion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much lordzuuko for beta-ing this!! <3

“I think I fucked up.”

Shiro was sitting on the couch in his apartment, back bent over, elbows on his knees, and head in his hands.

“Oh, dear, what happened?” Allura sat beside her roommate, palm gently placed on his back.

She had found Shiro like that when she’d gotten home. It was three thirty in the morning, and she had been shocked to see him still awake. 

“After Keith and I finished our finals he fell asleep, and when he woke up I told him he could stay the night if he wanted, and he completely freaked out after that. Like, he-was-about-to-walk-himself-home-at-two-in-the-morning freaked out. Ugh, I— I didn’t mean it like  _ that _ when I said it, but afterwards I realized that I lowkey kinda did?”

“Wait, so where is he now?”

“I drove him back to his dorm. But he just flipped and was shaking and everything and now I feel like I totally fucked up our friendship and any chance of dating him. I mean,  _ obviously _ , he doesn’t like me, just cause we’re both gay doesn’t mean we find each other attractive.  _ Fuck _ , why’d I have to fall for a freshman? For  _ him? _ He’s so talented and funny and smart and  _ gorgeous _ , I want to do everything I can to make him happy—” Shiro cut himself off, taking in a shuddery breath. His eyes began to sting and he blinked to stop the wetness from spilling over. “It’s never hurt this much before.”

“Oh, darling,” Allura wrapped her arms around Shiro and held him tight. “My poor, gay son.”

Shiro choked out an impulsive laugh.

“Come on, let’s get you to bed. You’re an exhausted, heartbroken, emotional wreck right now. Let’s get some energy into that body before trying to tackle anything else, alright?” She stood up and held out her hand.

Shiro rubbed his eyes with his wrist and accepted the hand, allowing himself to be pulled up from the couch. Allura led him to his room, made sure he changed into his pyjamas before getting into bed, and tucked him in.

“Sweet dreams, space boy,” She pressed a light kiss onto his forehead. When she didn’t receive a reply, Allura glanced down at Shiro and chuckled softly. 

“Asleep already?” She shook her head. “You’re so wrapped up in your own thoughts that you can’t see how much that boy is head over heels for you.”

\----

“So, let me get this straight— well,  _ gay _ —”

“Get on with it, Lance.” 

“Shiro, a.k.a. the hot model man you get insta-boners for whenever you think about him—”

“I do  _ not _ —”

“Asked you to  _ stay the night _ and you said no.” Lance crossed his arms and sat back in the cushioned booth of one of the school cafeterias. A half-eaten stack of pancakes with strawberries, whipped cream, chocolate chips and maple syrup sat in front of him along with a cup of milk.

“Uh, yeah.” Keith sat across from him, poking at a plate full of scrambled eggs with his fork.

Lance narrowed his eyes. “Keith, my man, you are an idiot.”

“Wow, I didn’t need to hear that from  _ you _ of all people,” the other boy’s voice was dripping with sarcasm.

“Excuse me,” Lance snorted. “Who was the one that you clung to last night at ass-o’clock in the morning while bawling your eyes out and getting snot everywhere? Who  _ else _ do you have to talk about this with?”

Keith shovelled a forkful of eggs into his mouth, pouting.

“Tell me what’s got you so freaked out.” Lance began to cut his remaining pancakes into small pieces.

“I— I don’t know,” Keith said after swallowing his food. He was beginning to get frustrated with his roommate’s questions and was finding it increasingly difficult to keep his voice down. “Maybe because I can’t tell if he was being literal with me or if he was implying sex? And I mean, sure, I like him a lot but I’d like to be in a relationship with him  _ first  _ before doing any of that?”

“You know, if you’re so hung up about the way you reacted, I think you should bring it up with him. I mean, to just clear the air and make sure you two are understanding each other correctly. A little communication can go a long way. You’re going back home tomorrow, right?”   
“Yeah, but I don’t want to show up at his apartment all serious like, ‘We Need to Talk’ style.” Keith felt like ripping his hair out of his head.

“Well, it is winter break, you could give him a present to make things casual first, and then—”

Lance felt his back flattened flush against his seat, Keith’s hands gripping his shoulders with bone breaking strength. His eyes were wide with inspiration and shone brightly.

“Lance.” Their faces were mere centimeters apart. “You. Are. A. Genius.” He let go and promptly ran out of his seat towards the general direction of their dorm.

His roommate was still frozen against the back of the booth cushions.

_ All of the sudden I have the urge to take a really long, really cold shower. But before that, I wonder if he’d mind if I ate his eggs. _

—————

Shiro could hear his phone vibrating somewhere on his bed.

_ Uughh, the  _ one _ day I try to sleep in. _ He half-heartedly patted his hand around his mattress.  _ Ah, there you are you fucker. _ He wrapped his fingers around his phone and brought the screen up to his eyes.

_ [Calling… Keith] _

“Oh, shit!” He scrambled into a seated position and pressed the answer button. “Hello?”  _ God my voice sounds like crap. _

“Hey Shiro, it’s Keith.” 

“Yeah.”

“I’m, umm, kinda outside your apartment. Could you let me in?”

Shiro jumped out of bed, quickly grabbing the first articles of clothing he could find on the floor and pulling them on. “Course, just give me a sec!” 

“Okay.” They both hung up.

Shiro dressed as fast as he could, tripping over his pant legs in the process. There was no time to put on his contacts so he shoved his glasses onto his face. They were crooked, but that could be adjusted later. He shoved his feet into his shoes and ran out into his floor’s hallway before he could register that Allura had greeted him with a “Good morning!” from the kitchen.

He tore down the stairs (waiting for the elevator would take too long) and pushed all of his weight against the door that led into the common area of the building. He stood on his toes briefly to see if Keith was outside. When he caught a glimpse his red jacket, he ran up to the door and pulled it open.

“Hey,” he panted, out of breath.

“Hey,” Keith replied. He had his backpack on, which was odd since they were done with classes. H didn’t think that Keith typically carried a lot with him. He looked Shiro up and down. “If you’re busy, I can come back—”

“No, it’s fine. I was just sleeping.” Shiro let out a laugh as they walked to the elevator. He noticed Keith turn his gaze to the ground after he spoke.

They rode up to the fourth floor in silence. Shiro hadn’t locked the door when he left, so he simply pushed it open, letting Keith enter first.

“Good morning! I wasn’t expecting you.” Allura was sitting at the kitchen island, drinking tea and eating a bagel. She gave a smile to Keith, and raised her eyebrows at Shiro.

“Oh, hi,” the youngest replied shyly.

“Feel free to sit down or something. I’ve gotta go brush my teeth, my mouth tastes terrible.” Shiro motioned towards the couch.

“Uhh,” Keith glanced at Allura, then back to Shiro. “I kinda wanted to talk to you in private?”

Allura grabbed her food and began to scoot her chair back. “I can leave if you two—”

“That won’t be necessary.” Shiro cut in. “Umm, is my room okay?”

Keith tugged on the straps of his bag. “Yeah, that’s fine.” 

In the bathroom, Shiro spent more time than usual brushing his teeth.

_ He came to my apartment. Oh god, he’s in my  _ room _. He probably wants to tell me that I made him super uncomfortable and felt like I was being inappropriate and doesn’t want to be friends anymore, fuck. _

He stepped outside, took in a deep breath, and pushed his handle of his door.

_ Better to get it over with. _

Keith was standing awkwardly in the center of his room, staring at his phone.

“So, you wanted to tell me something?” Shiro closed the door and scratched the back of his head.

The other jumped and nearly dropped his phone. “Uh, kinda. I wanted to give you this.” He pulled out a package covered in brightly patterned wrapping paper from his backpack and held it out. 

“Wow, thanks.” This was not what Shiro had been expecting at all.

“Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah or Kwanza… I’m not really sure if you celebrate anything, sorry.”

Shiro sat down at the edge of his bed. “No, no, it’s fine. Thank you. Is it alright if I open it now?”

Keith bit his bottom lip. “Sure.”

“You can sit if you want,” Shiro invited as he began peeling off the tape on the present.

Keith placed his backpack on the floor and sat on the mattress a little ways away from him, observing as he gently peeled the wrapping paper. A large-ish black book was revealed. 

“Aww, thanks,” Shiro flipped through it quickly and froze. “Keith…”

“Y-yeah?”

“This is…” his fingers were tightly grasping the covers of the book. “This is  _ yours _ .” The pages were covered in different sketches and drawings, some that looked like class assignments, others that looked like they had been done for enjoyment. He closed it and handed it to Keith.

“I can’t take this.”  

The other pushed it back. “Please… please just, just look at it.” 

After a moment, Shiro slowly retreated his hand and brought the book back into his lap. He stared at it for a second longer, then hesitantly began going through each page.

“It’s kinda weird looking at naked drawings of yourself,” he chuckled.

A blush spread across Keith’s face and he ducked his head. “Keep going.” 

Shiro flipped through more pages of figures, some notes, and a few sketches of people he didn’t know. They were detailed and beautiful, the way that Keith drew eyes was captivating. He became so caught up that he almost didn’t realize when one of the pages revealed a drawing of him. He paused. It was him eating a sandwich while reading what was probably a textbook.

_ Wait, is that me? When— _ he glanced at the bottom of the page and noticed words.

[Sept 28 lunch by art building]

He flipped to find another one of him. He was leaning his head against one arm, eyes closed and glasses crooked.

[Oct 4 s̶l̶e̶e̶p̶i̶n̶g̶  studying in library]

He continued looking through the sketchbook, finding more and more candid images of him interspersed throughout the classwork. 

[Oct 23 losing to allura in smash bros]

[Nov 17 talking about space]

[Nov 26 grouchy cause animal shelter was closed & wanted to look at cats]

[Dec 12 eating ice cream even tho its winter & freezing outside]

He looked at page after page, wondering when and how Keith had been able to do all of them without him noticing. Especially with the amount of detail that they had.

On the last page of the book, there wasn’t a drawing. There was a picture. A polaroid he remembered taking on a sunny day after class a while back. One where he had thought over and over of what to write on it, settling for “You’re the best”. 

Below the picture were words. A letter. For him.

[Shiro,

You are the most wonderful friend anyone could ever ask for. You are kind and generous and thoughtful. You encourage me to be a better person, and every minute spent with you makes my day brighter.

I like you.

In a way that I’ve never felt about anyone else. You’ve come to mean so much to me in these past few months, and it would mean even more to me if you’d be willing to allow our friendship to become something more.

Keith]

 

The sketchbook fell out of Shiro’s hands and onto the floor.

Keith’s face was buried in his hands, but they were torn away as a strong grip pulled them apart. Keith looked up, body shaking and heart pounding. He couldn’t read Shiro’s facial expression, and he didn’t know if that should make him feel relieved or worried.

But all of that melted away when warm hands cupped his cheeks and soft lips pressed against his.

They were kissing.

Shiro was kissing him.

Keith’s arms scrambled to wrap around Shiro’s back and clenched at the fabric of his shirt. He tilted his head slightly and kissed Shiro back. Kissed him with everything he had. Kissed him with every fiber in his body, every emotion, as if he could somehow make Shiro understand. It was electrifying, it was soft, it was frightening. It didn’t feel real. He couldn’t believe that this was real. He wanted it to be. He  _ needed _ it to be.

But then Shiro pulled back, bringing them into a tight hug, his face buried in Keith’s shoulder.

“Yes,” he said, words slightly muffled. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,  _ yes _ .”

Keith felt his heart burst out of his chest. All rational thought left his mind. Nothing else mattered but being there and being in Shiro’s arms.

“I want to kiss you more,” he murmured into the other’s ear.

“So do I,” Shiro replied, nuzzling his cheek. He took his glasses off, quickly turning to place them on the small table by his bed. He moved back to Keith, who immediately wrapped his arms around him again and pressed their bodies together.

“Then what are we doing?”  

And so they fell back onto Shiro’s bed, lips finding each other. The tension from bottled up secrets released as they explored the skin and the mouths and the sounds and the feel of one another.

Holding each other, and kissing and kissing and kissing and kissing...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one more chapter after this one! Hope you all have been enjoying it~


	5. Bright as the Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, bless you lordzuuko for beta-ing. You helped make this chapter better than what it could have been <3

Lance yawned as he pushed open the door to his second term drawing class.

_Why did I think that taking a class before 10 am would be a good idea?_

He rubbed his eyes and looked around the room for an open easel. Then he saw _him_.

“YOU!” he yelled, extending one arm and pointing at the figure in the center of the room. “YOU’RE KEITH’S BOYFRIEND!”

He ran up to the other and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him back and forth. “Congratulations, man! I am _so_ happy for you two! Now I don’t need to hear Keith constantly whine about how much he isn’t good enough for you.”

“Umm, thanks, but I don’t know who you are?” He looked at Lance quizzically.

“What?” the younger boy released the other’s shoulders and pointed at himself wildly. “Lance? Keith’s roommate? Sorta-bestie? Frenemies? I don’t know how he defines our relationship but the point is, Keith has _never_ talked about me?!”

“ _Ooh!_ Good to finally meet you, Lance, I’m Shiro.” The model let out a laugh. “And don’t worry, Keith has talked about you _plenty_.”

“Nice things?”

“Uhh, sure.”

The professor clapped her hands, letting the students know that the class was about to begin. Lance said goodbye and hurried to a leftover easel.  

 _Holy shit! Keith isn’t gonna believe this!_ He cackled inside his mind. _It’ll be sorta weird, though, seeing his boyfriend naked. But god, he certainly is a nice piece of eye-candy. More in real life than in the drawings I’ve seen of him. Keith’s lucky as fuck._

 

When class ended, Lance looked up to see Shiro walking towards him.

“Hey, so me and some friends are going to have dinner at my apartment tonight, you want to come? Keith’s going to be there. Don’t feel like you have to, though.”

A wicked grin spread across Lance’s face. “What, and miss the opportunity to embarrass Keith as much as possible? Never.”

* * *

Lance pulled Keith aside and whispered frantically into his ear.

“Why didn’t you tell me that Shiro has a super hot roommate?”

Keith whispered back just as sharply. “Maybe because I was too busy with my crush on Shiro?! Also, are you talking about Allura or Pidge?” Pidge was another engineering major who Keith barely ever saw, as they typically were either sleeping in their room or studying in the library.

“The tall dark and gorgeous one with the sexy accent and white hair, duh!”

“Allura.”

“Yeah, her. Do you know if she’s dating anyone? Does she like guys? Is she looking for a boyfriend?”

Keith rolled his eyes and pushed his hand into Lance’s face, walking away from the secluded corner he’d been dragged into.

“Go ask her yourself.”

“No, dude, you know I’m terrible at talking to attractive people! Come on, be my wingman, _pleeease_?”

Keith ignored him and returned to the living room where everyone else was. Three other people besides him and Lance has been invited. Hunk was helping Allura with dinner in the kitchen, and Shay along with Pidge’s older brother Matt were sharing theories about some show they both liked. He spotted Shiro on the couch, talking animatedly about something probably science-related to Pidge. He made his way to his boyfriend and sat in his lap, despite the fact that there was plenty of room on the sofa next to him.

He turned and gave Shiro a quick peck on the cheek, who responded by placing a chaste kiss on his lips.

Shiro then resumed his conversation, wrapping his arms around Keith’s waist to keep him from sliding off his lap. Allura plopped herself down next to the couple and began chatting with the freshman about his art. She’d been trying to see if he’d do a portrait of her lately.

“Is the food ready?” Keith attempted to change the subject.

She rolled her eyes. “Patience, dear. We have to wait a little longer for it to cook.”

Keith spotted Lance emerge from the hallway, nervously rubbing the back of his neck and eyes sweeping the room without focus. He felt a little bad for his roommate. He was only there because Shiro had invited him, but he didn’t really know anyone else there. And as loud and obnoxious as he could be, Keith knew that underneath all that he was still capable of feeling shy and out of place.

“Hey,” Keith said to Allura, “So my roommate Lance thinks you’re really pretty.”

She laughed. “Oh, god, like I couldn’t tell. He’s been staring at me all night.”

“I’d really appreciate if you could go talk to him.”

Allura eyed him. “Keith, you know I’m not—”

“You don’t have to flirt with him, just make some polite conversation. He doesn’t know anyone here and if you talked with him I’m sure it’d make his night. Look, if you do this I’ll draw a picture of you, okay? I’ll even make it all pretty with watercolors and everything.”

Allura tapped her finger on her chin. “Hmm, you drive a hard bargain. Alright, I’ll talk to him. I was thinking about it anyway. Poor boy looks scared out of his mind.” She got up and walked over to Lance. Keith couldn’t make out what they were saying, but he saw his roommate blush and smile and that was all he really needed. He relaxed back into Shiro’s chest and closed his eyes, listening to the passionate words coming out of his boyfriend’s mouth. Words he didn’t understand, but still loved.

A little while later, Hunk declared that dinner was ready. Once everyone had a plate full of food, they gathered around the coffee table and watched old science fiction tv shows.

Keith, Allura, and Lance volunteered to do the dishes, and Keith was happy to see that the two seemed to be genuinely getting along quite well.

At 10:30, most of the guests had gone home, only the two freshmen remaining.

Lance yawned and stretched. “Well, I’m about ready to head back. How about you, Keith?”

The other boy shook his head. “I’m staying the night.”

Lance smirked. “Oh, really? No chickening out? No coming back at three in the morning and crying while I cradle you in my arms?”

Keith’s face turned red and he threw a pillow from the couch at his roommate’s head.

“Hey!” Allura shouted. “There will be no throwing of pillows in this house!”

Pidge rolled their eyes. “Oh yes, the priceless Ikea pillows.”

Allura snatched it up anyway and put it back on the sofa. “I swear, I can’t tell the lot of you apart from children. Come on Lance, I’ll drive you home.”

The two left, Lance looking giddy as expected.

“Well, I’m gonna head to bed, I’m pooped.” Pidge said goodnight to the remaining boys and returned to their room.

Keith felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out of his pocket and checked the message.

[ Lance:

thx for tonight! allura’s p cool, ur the man. hvae fun w shiro. dont forget to use a condom ;) ]

Keith groaned.

“What is it?” Shiro hugged him from behind, resting his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder.

“Nothing,” Keith replied, turning around and wrapping his arms around Shiro’s neck.

The older boy leaned down and kissed him, Keith melting into his touch. They stood there, lips locked, bodies flush together, the glow of the kitchen lights illuminating the room.

The two parted, smiling affectionately at each other, when Keith gasped.

“Oh no.” He buried his head in Shiro’s chest.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“I just realized that Lance has seen you naked now, oh god.” He shivered. “I don’t want to think about it.”

“Then don’t.” Shiro brought him in for another kiss.

“Mmm, I like this idea,” Keith murmured against lips.

“Let’s take it to the bedroom, then,” Shiro spoke in a deep, sultry tone before picking Keith up into his arms bridal style. “Sleep is for the _weaaak_!” he yelled as he ran into his room while Keith laughed uncontrollably.

_I am the luckiest guy in the entire universe._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all, folks! I hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> I'm also currently working on writing some fics for the Oct 22-28 Sheith week, heheh. So you all can look forward to that! c:

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr is paper-records. feel free to scream your feelings about sheith to me. i will most likely scream back.


End file.
